


she puts the light in her eyes (but she doesn't know it yet)

by dragon_lovely



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Cheryl Blossom Needs a Hug, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Protective Toni
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 09:39:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16172489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragon_lovely/pseuds/dragon_lovely
Summary: Toni deals with Betty and Cheryl finally gets to meet her niece and nephew (with protective Toni just for fun)





	she puts the light in her eyes (but she doesn't know it yet)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so I know it has been SUCH a long time since I last posted but school has been a lot and this took me forever to write. The summary is kind of similar to my other fic, Aftermath, except it is completely different with different events and stuff so yeah. Speaking of, I will probably update it eventually, I just need to get started on that, so it'll probably be the next thing I update it people still want it, idk.
> 
> Also, 8 DAYS UNTIL SEASON 3. We need more Choni content in our lives.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! Leave a kudos or a comment if you have anything to say.
> 
> PS Also a tiny bit of swearing, nothing serious, just a warning, and a vague mention of suicide.

It all started when Toni found the USB drive at the bottom of Cheryl’s pajama drawer in her closet. Cheryl’s shower created a white noise in the background as she read the label: ‘July 11’. Of course, she was intrigued - she had never heard Cheryl talk about this in the six months that they had been together.

She heard the shower stop and the bathroom door opened, steam seeping out as Cheryl walked over to the bed. Her towel wrapped her body, showing off her long pale legs and shapely figure - though it wasn’t anything Toni hadn’t seen before. 

She waited until Cheryl was in her sleep clothes - maroon sweatpants with the iconic Riverdale ‘R’ on them and one of Toni’s many band shirts - before approaching her girlfriend with her question.

“Hey, Cher, I found this in one of your drawers. What is it?” she said, moving so she was facing the redhead. Cheryl turned towards Toni, face serene. Her gaze traveled down to Toni’s hand, and the soft smile on her face dropped. She snatched the USB port out of Toni’s hand immediately, hiding it behind her back as panic surfaced briefly in her eyes.

“Oh, this? It’s, um, it’s nothing. Truly. Why was that even in there? I should have thrown it away months ago,” Cheryl rambled, that damned strained, fake smile on her face. Immediately, Toni knew Cheryl was lying. It was obvious from the fact that her girlfriend refused to meet her eyes and tensed her arms as if waiting to dodge something.

“Hey, Cher, it’s okay. You don’t have to tell me, okay? I was just wondering. It’s obviously not something you want to talk about, and I’ll wait until you’re ready, okay?” Toni took the hand that wasn’t holding the USB Port and gazed into her eyes. “You can tell me anything”.

“Thank you, Toni. I just...I need a few minutes, okay?” Cheryl finally met her eyes, and Toni could see the panic slowly disappearing as she calmed down.

It wasn’t until they were curled up in bed, the room dark, that Cheryl told Toni what happened when she was testifying for F.P. during the trial. Toni nodded along to the part that she knew, about Cheryl testifying to get F.P. out of jail sooner, but as Cheryl continued her story, about Betty blackmailing her, Toni couldn’t decide whether she wanted to throw up or strangle Betty Cooper herself.

After Cheryl had finished her story, tears leaking out of her eyes, Toni had to ask one thing.

“Cher, if Betty has been such a bitch to you, why do you still help her? I mean, she threatened to publish your brother’s death to the entire world. Why did you work with her to help find her dad if you know you can’t trust her? For God’s sake, she forced you to testify before you had even come to terms with the murder” Though her sentence started out calm, Toni raised her voice as she progressed and ended up shouting by the time she finished. Cheryl took a deep breath and tipped her head back onto her pillow, sighing.

“Here’s the thing. As much as I hate her for what she did to me - and I do hate her for that. I know it makes me sound like a bad person, but I do - the thing is, I still love her. I mean, she’s my cousin. I have to,”. Cheryl explained all of this with her eyes closed.

“Cheryl. I know you better than that. You wouldn’t forgive her just because she is your cousin. There must be something more to it” Toni kept pushing, despite the fact that she knew there was a chance Cheryl’s walls would snap right back up. Her girlfriend sat up, and they stared at each other for a minute, Cheryl’s tear tracks drying on her cheeks. Toni was about to look away when Cheryl sobs started anew, leaning into Toni’s chest.

“Hey, baby, it’s okay. I didn’t mean to push too hard. Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m here,” Toni soothed, rubbing circles on the girl’s back as she began to panic. She hadn’t expected this to happen, at all, and now she felt guilty about pushing. This was obviously a sensitive subject. After a few minutes, Cheryl, still crying, began to speak. “I just want one, single person in my family to love me at the end of all this” she hiccupped, each word spaced out between deep breaths.

Toni’s heart broke.

“Hey, Cher, you have people in your family who love you. I mean, think about your Nana Rose? Or your brother?” Toni asked.

“I don’t want someone crazy, or dead, or anything else. I just want someone who is alive and in my family to care about me without me having to bully them into it,” Cheryl, if possible, started to sob harder.

“Oh, baby, I know. I know, and you deserve it. You deserve so much more than what they’ve done,” Toni said, holding Cheryl close. After what seemed like hours but was probably only ten minutes, Cheryl quieted. Sniffling, she leaned back from Toni. Cheryl looked at Toni’s face for a moment before frowning, brow creasing with worry.

“You’re crying, Toni,” she said, raising a finger and caressing her cheek slowly.

“It’s just what you do to me, sweetheart” Toni responded with a wry grin, touching her face to find that, indeed, her skin was wet with tears. She hadn’t noticed. “It’s just, I care about you so, so, so much, Cher, and I don’t want anyone to hurt you. Ever.”

Cheryl smiled and pulled Toni into an embrace as they lay on the bed. Softly, she pressed her lips to the other girl’s in a chaste kiss before snuggling into their bed.

“Good night, TT. Love you”.

“Good night, sweetheart,” Toni said. She felt Cheryl relaxing against her, and within minutes the redhead’s breathing steadied.

However, Toni’s mind was elsewhere. She was thinking about what she learned that night.

She didn’t think she would ever trust Betty Cooper again.

\-----

A month later, Cheryl came home from her lunch date with Betty holding back tears.

Toni was sitting in the living room working on math homework when the door slammed, spooking her out of her algebra-induced reverie.

“Hey Cher, how was your lunch date with Be-what happened?” Toni asked, standing up. Her girlfriend was leaning against the doorframe, eyes glistening with tears. Cheryl walked over to the table and sat down, propping her head up with her hand. “Cheryl?”

Her girlfriend responded by collapsing into onto the couch in tears, which caused Toni to practically vault over a chair to embrace her girlfriend.

“What did that bitch do to you?” she growled into Cheryl’s hair. The girl in question sniffled as she looked up.

“So, we were just, sitting at Pop’s, y’know, waiting for our food, and Betty started talking about how Polly was gonna come home with the twins on - on Sunday, and I asked if I could see them. Because I - I haven’t actually met them yet, and I really want to. You know I do, I talk about it all the time,”. Toni nodded. If there was one thing Cheryl loved to talk about, it was the twins. She practically obsessed over the pictures Polly sent a few months ago and had been waiting anxiously to meet them ever since. Toni kept silent as Cheryl continued.

“They’re all I have left of Jason, and I want to be the aunt I am. But - but Betty said I couldn’t - because I’m ‘kind of crazy’ and she doesn’t want me to - to teach bad things to the twins. She - she said that it was too early - too early for the twins to be exposed to me, and maybe - maybe in a year or two the Coopers will be - will be okay with me - me meeting them”. After this Cheryl broke out into sobs once more, wilting into Toni’s arms.

Toni, however, was frozen. She could not believe the audacity Betty had to actually deny Cheryl the right to see her niece and nephew. It was sickening. Toni had been through a lot in her life - for hell’s sake, she had carved the tattoo off of a woman - but she had never seen this sort of disgusting emotional abuse from a human being, let alone from someone who was actually supposed to care about her (with the exception of Penelope Blossom, of course. It seemed that Cheryl’s family had trouble with the whole ‘basic human kindness’ thing). It really seemed that, throughout Cheryl’s life, everyone just used her then tossed her away. The only exception was Veronica, and even then she was sketchy when it came to Cheryl.

She was brought back to the present by her girlfriend, who had pulled out of her grasp, tears still falling down her cheeks.

“Where are you going, Cher?” Toni asked, unfurling from herself as she stood.

“I’m going to go take a shower,” Cheryl said, and Toni nodded. The pink-haired girl had noticed that whenever Cheryl went through something really difficult, she would go take a long shower. Something about the heat and steam calmed her down. However, the redhead’s next words were surprising. “Join me?”

Toni turned towards her girlfriend, a shocked look on her face. Usually, Cheryl wanted to be alone with her thoughts, a leftover boundary made after years in the Blossom household. However, Cheryl’s face was delicate, almost hopeful, as if she was expecting Toni to say no.

“Of course, baby,” Toni said, and Cheryl grinned and she took Toni’s hand and led her upstairs.  
Toni made sure to pour every single ounce of her love into that kiss as their lips met slowly and languidly at the top of the stairs before Cheryl beckoned Toni over to the bathroom.

Later, as they laid in bed, Toni couldn’t sleep. Cheryl was curled into her side, the curve of her cheek tucked into Toni’s shoulder, and one of her arms was wrapped around her neck, the other draped over her waist. Toni, however, focused on something else. Despite her Cheryl’s best attempts at convincing her girlfriend that she was fine, Toni did not believe her. After her original breakdown when she had first gotten home, Cheryl hadn’t spoken a word about the situation, and whenever Toni brought it up she would change the subject. 

What Betty had done hurt the redhead, and Toni didn’t like it when people hurt her girlfriend. Betty Cooper had to pay.

\----

Toni approached the blonde a few days later after school. They were working on a project for the Blue and Gold together, and Betty wanted to meet up so they could talk about what setting they wanted the pictures to have. Toni was waiting in the classroom, scrolling through her Instagram when Betty entered the room.

“Hey, Toni! I’m glad that you could meet up with me. I really appreciate it. The Blue and Gold really needs a new voice, and I think you’ll be perfect,” Betty grinned cheerfully at her, putting her binders down on a desk and walking over to her.

“Betty there’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about,” Toni said, turning off her phone and sauntering over to Betty.

“Sure, what is it?” the girl asked, wilting slightly under Toni’s intense gaze.

“You’re close with Cheryl, right? You’re, like, cousins twice removed. Oh, and don’t let me forget how you’re, like, sisters-in-law or something,” she smiled tightly.

“I mean, I guess, yeah. Why are we, um, why are we talking about Cheryl?” Betty stuttered a little, taking a few steps back as Toni advanced.

“Well, you know, a few days ago, Cheryl came home after a lunch date with you, and she was pretty worked up. She said something about how you were banning her from seeing her niece and nephew because, and I quote here, she’s going to pass her crazy onto her niece and nephew,” Toni said, eyes blazing with anger as she continued to edge Betty backward. 

“Then I remembered, a few weeks ago, I found a USB port, and Cheryl told me something about how you blackmailed her and forced her to testify that she forgave someone when she didn’t. That sounds kind of crazy to me,” Toni paused and reached into her pocket. Betty’s eyes widened almost comically as the shorter girl flicked open her switchblade. 

“Now, I was thinking, in order to rectify your mistakes, you could apologize to Cheryl for blackmailing her, and invite her to visit Polly and the twins. I mean, it’s only fair. That sounds like a good start, right?”

Betty’s legs hit the back of a desk, and she nodded her head furiously. Toni’s lips curved into a smile.

“Great. If you’ll excuse me, I just remembered I have plans. We’ll have to reschedule our meeting,” Toni said. She scooped her backpack up and walked out of the door, letting it slam behind her with a satisfying thud.

\----

Toni had expected Jughead to come after her at some point. He was a good person, she supposed, but sometimes that self-righteous crap about protecting those he loved got out of control, ending up with him getting weirdly protective.

What she didn’t expect was to come out of the bathroom at the Wyrm to find him yelling at Cheryl, Betty standing guiltily behind him.

“You know, I knew you were a cold-hearted backstabbing Blossom bitch, but I thought you at least had the decency to do your own dirty work. Yet here we are, with you somehow managing to get Toni to threaten my girlfriend. I knew that you were bad news for her as soon as I saw you guys together, but this is just the icing on the cake,” Jughead practically spit the words at her, and Toni could practically feel the ‘holier-than-thou’ energy radiating off of him. Cheryl was sitting on a bar stool, looking up at him with a shocked expression, processing what had happened.

“What the hell is going on here, Jug?” Toni used his nickname, but all the friendliness that was usually inflected in it was gone, replaced by a frigid sort of rage.

“What’s going on, Toni, is that Satan over here managed to cast a spell on you or something, and now you’re turning against the people that actually care about you for someone who will leave you in a second,” Jughead said, turning to her. “Don’t worry, it’s not your fault she’s a vindictive, spiteful monster. Betty told me what you did for her, and I’m not mad at you. It’s her,” Jughead jutted his chin at aforementioned redhead, “fault anyways, so if you just leave her and come back to us, it’ll all work out,”.

There was a moment of silence as Toni processed everything Jughead had just said before she ripped her arm out of Jughead’s grasp and stalked over to her girlfriend, wrapping a protective arm around her waist. In the back of her mind, she notices the fact that Cheryl is trembling, but she was too far gone in her rage to truly process it.

“Listen up, Jughead, and listen good, because I am only going to say this once. If you even imply for another second that Cheryl is just using me for some ulterior motive or that she doesn’t love me and I don’t love her, you are going to find yourself without a head very soon. Betty needed to hear everything I said, and I am not going to stop sticking up for the woman who I would quite literally die for. So I suggest you think about how you and your girlfriend blackmailed a girl a few days after she tried to drown herself with the tape of her brother’s death and take your head out of your ass long enough to think about others for all of ten seconds. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have better places to be,” Toni hissed at Jughead, and she swore if he said one more word, she would tackle him without a second thought.

However, he seemed to be in shock that anyone would dare argue with his bullshit reasoning, so she grasped Cheryl’s hand and led her outside.

The ride home was quiet, though it wasn’t like there was much conversation that could be had over the roar of the motorcycle, and as they pulled up to Thistlehouse the air between the two girls was tense. Toni was still angry as hell, and Cheryl was unreadably silent.

Cheryl finally broke the silence, turning towards Toni as they were walking up to the door.

“Why did you do that, Toni?” she asked, tears visible in her eyes, and Toni felt the tiniest bit guilty that she had made her cry, but she was confused about her girlfriend’s question.

“What do you mean, Cheryl?”

“Why did you stick up for me? You didn’t need to. No one - no one ever stands up for me,” Cheryl’s voice was watery and broken, and her eyes sought Toni’s with a sort of desperation.

“Oh, baby, of course, I stood up for you,” Toni’s heart broke a little as she pulled Cheryl into a tight hug. She felt Cheryl fold into the embrace, tears finally falling as she got the closure she was looking for. “I’ll always stand up for you, Cher,”.

\----

Toni and Cheryl sat outside of the Cooper’s house in Big Red. Though Cheryl acted casual, it was obvious from the way she was gripping the steering wheel she was anything but. Toni gently reached out and pried one of her hands from the wheel, holding it softly in her lap. Cheryl looked over to her a few seconds later, a vaguely panicked look in her eyes. Toni immediately got worried.

“What’s wrong, Cheryl?” Toni ran her thumb across Cheryl’s cheekbone, and the redhead leaned into the touch. 

“What if they don’t like me?” her voice was small, so incredibly different from her usual self.

“Of course they’ll like you, babe, they’re only a year old,” Toni joked, and Cheryl gave her a small smile. “Seriously though, Cher,”.

“Okay. Okay. Okay. Let’s go in,” Cheryl said.

It was awkward, to say the least. Alice Cooper was glaring at Cheryl the entire time, and though Cheryl may have avoided her gaze, Toni sure as hell didn’t. She glared right back, daring the older woman to say one word about her girlfriend. Betty simply seemed embarrassed, running off to her room only minutes after they arrived. At least Polly was nice. Toni recalled something about the teenager living with the Blossoms for a short while, and she appreciated the effort she was making to help Cheryl feel better. She decided not to mention her original ruling about Cheryl, if only for her girlfriend’s sake.

“Okay, they just woke up from their nap. I’ll go get them,” Polly said after the introductions and left to go get the twins. Cheryl grasped Toni’s hand tightly, and Toni leaned over to press a kiss to her hairline.

Polly came back, carrying two chubby, red-haired babies, and handed one of them to Cheryl, murmuring something about it being Juniper. Cheryl’s eyes, however, were on the bundle in her arms. She leaned over it, whispering some nonsense about it being adorable. Her eyes were shining with the most incredible happiness, and she giggled a little as the baby reached out and grabbed some of her hair. 

That was when Toni realized she was well and truly screwed. Because she would do anything - and that means anything - to see that light in Cheryl’s eyes again. And she swore, as Cheryl looked up at her and grinned, that one day she would be able to put that light in Cheryl’s eyes herself.

Toni didn’t see that she already did.


End file.
